KIPP Tulsa News
Terence Crutcher Foundation’s Project Lead holds first Youth Ambassador Council meeting
Written by Paris Rain; published on Fox 23
TULSA, Okla. — 13 high schoolers in the Tulsa Public School District met for the first time as the youth ambassador council for a program called Project LEAD.
It stands for Lead — Excel — Advocate — and Develop. allowing the youth a way to speak up in governmental spaces, advocate for their peers and be presented with tools that will allow them to be successful in higher education and the workforce.
Recently the Terence Crutcher Foundation was awarded a grant by the NBA Foundation to help expand the program—helping TCF double the amount of students they serve through Project LEAD.
While Project LEAD isn’t new, the new cohort will have the unique opportunity to step into governmental settings, speak up for what they feel the youth in Green Country need and be given tools to succeed in higher education and the workforce.
Young people in Tulsa are getting the chance to have their voices heard after a string of teen gun violence this summer.
“Elevating the voice of youth is important, because we heard from our youth over the summer. We’ve had a series of youth violence throughout the summer, and so we decided as a foundation to engage community, to canvass our neighborhoods, to listen, to hear the feedback and what we heard is that we need more opportunities for our youth. We need youth employment; we need extracurricular to keep our youth occupied. And so, I hope that the community will understand that mentorship is so vitally, important, and that love is time. It’s not just saying, I love you, but it’s giving your time” said Tiffany Crutcher, founder of the Terence Crutcher Foundation and Project LEAD.